How much does ADOPTION cost?

[PygmyShrew]

I hear such varied numbers, so can some of you who've adopted help shed some light.

 

Would you share how much the ENTIRE adoption process cost you?

Also from which country did your child come?

Which YEAR did you adopt?

 

Thanks.

[snipsnsnailsx5]

Here is a great resource - they update their information frequently too:

http://www.creatingafamily.org/adoption/charts.html

 

HTH!

[snipsnsnailsx5]

Oh and I wanted to add that the website I gave you didn't cover foster placement in the U.S. very well. I think it said that birth mother relinquishment cost approx $10,000-$15,000. However, I've spoken to several families who've adopted through the foster system and its MUCH less then that. In some cases the state actually pays the legal fees for you. The only fees for foster-adoption in the U.S. are legal fees, which I've heard can total around $2,000 at most? You can specify age and gender and disabilities (or not), however the wait time can be long if you are too specific.

[LibraryLover]

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Edited October 3, 2010 by LibraryLover

[cin]

I hear such varied numbers, so can some of you who've adopted help shed some light.

 

Would you share how much the ENTIRE adoption process cost you?

Also from which country did your child come?

Which YEAR did you adopt?

 

Thanks.

 

 

2002, Vietnam 25k

2005, China 20k

 

EVERYTHING has changed in these countries since our adoptions. Probablyl the prices, too.

[jujsky]

2004 Russia: about 30K. That included our dossier, travel (2 trips to Russia required), fees for the adoption agency -- everything. We only had to stay in hotels for the last few days of our stay when we were in Moscow at the embassy. When we were in St. Petersburg we were able to stay with my IL's friends.

[Denisemomof4]

2005, China 20k

 

 

 

did you travel alone? I travelled with my oldest son so dh could stay home to manage the farm and care for our other two children. I figured our final cost was between 23k and 24k. This was during 2004.

[guateangel]

2003, Guatemala - 18K. I know it's upwards of 30K in recent years, but it's closed. LIved there for 4 months fostering my dd.

 

2009, Vietnam - 28K. Closed, as well. This included 2 wks in country stay and 3 of us traveling.

 

And yes, we are broke but so very blessed!

[specialmama]

If you're open to moving to Alberta, Canada, it costs nothing here to adopt locally. In fact, they pay you foster care rates + other fees for counselling, camp, respite, etc. They pay this out until the child turns 18, but you have to live in Alberta at the time of application. If you aren't fussy on age or sex, disablities, etc., you can have your child placed within 6 months of starting the process. Once the adoption is finalized, you can move wherever you want and the payments will be forwarded. This program is called Supports for Permanency.

[Paintedlady]

$10K in 2000,

$8k in 2001,

both domestic adoptions

 

We used Catholic Charities (we're not Catholic) and they have a sliding fee based on your income.

[alpidarkomama]

In 2008, we spent about $22K to adopt two children from Ethiopia. That included all our travel expenses too.

[anneofalamo]

4 adoptions thru foster

price zero, no,, I take that back, we paid for fingerprints..two times $50

and we are paid a subsidy every month til they are 18 or graduated from high school and they are on medicaid til same.

 

We did not know about the subsidy and our case worker made us take it!! :001_smile:

[PygmyShrew]

Thanks all. You've given me lots to consider.

[Angel in FL]

China 2006 - About $25K total

[DawnM]

I think another thing to ask is about travel. Did only one person travel or did you have the entire family? It makes a HUGE difference.

 

Also, the age of the child. My child was 2.5 years old so his return trip required a full airplane ticket.

 

We adopted from China in 2006. I went alone and the cost was around $23K. Thankfully, we got most of that back within the last 4 years. $11K credit from federal taxes, $5K credit back from NC State taxes, and DH's work reimbursed $5K towards adoption.

 

I really, really want to adopt a girl from China too, but not sure if it will ever happen.

 

Dawn

[Angel in FL]

When we adopted from China in 2006, only my dh and I traveled to China. My daughter was 10 months old so we only paid for a lap ticket, not a full ticket on the way home. I'm pretty sure ours was $25K, maybe just a little more.

[DawnM]

And now Ethiopia requires TWO trips!

 

Dawn

 

In 2008, we spent about $22K to adopt two children from Ethiopia. That included all our travel expenses too.

[MaMa2005]

China - August 2007 - $17,000 - almost 3 weeks in country

DH and I traveled together. We used FF miles so cost of plane tickets is not in the price. DS was 27 months so had to have a ticket (which we paid for) for the trip home.

 

Most of that money went toward US and Chinese fees for various documents. Our actual travel budget from our agency was right at $2700 (included in country flights, but not the overseas flights).

[Lolly]

Friends just adopted (USA) a sibling group of 4, ages 3 and under for $4000 plus travel out of state. The lawyers all waved their fees. They have been gone about 10 days now and should be home soon. The birthmother relinquished her rights.

[cin]

did you travel alone? I travelled with my oldest son so dh could stay home to manage the farm and care for our other two children. I figured our final cost was between 23k and 24k. This was during 2004.

 

DH and I went, dd stayed with a family from church (she was just 4 yrs old).

[DawnM]

Wow! How did they go about that? Do you know?

 

Dawn

 

Friends just adopted (USA) a sibling group of 4, ages 3 and under for $4000 plus travel out of state. The lawyers all waved their fees. They have been gone about 10 days now and should be home soon. The birthmother relinquished her rights.

[In2why]

We adopted in 2003. The entire cost including all legal fees was $1800.00, and we adopted in less than a year. Our son was 6 weeks old when we brought him home. We adopted through Children's Home Society of Virginia and he was a healthy newborn. He is biracial and as such is considered special needs in Virginia. But the cost was the same no matter what the situation. We had to pay for the home study and the legal fee and that was it. We could have been asked to pay for the Birthmothers prebirth expenses but we were not willing to do that, so we weren't matched in that type of situation.

[Ottakee]

We adopted 3 and the total cost was ZERO.

 

Ds came to us at 7 1/2 years old with parental rights already terminated. He is now 22.

 

15dd came to us at 7 1/2 months old and 6 months later 13 1/2 dd was born and came to us at 2 days old. It was another 2 1/2 years before we could finalize their adoption.

[HS Mom in NC]

S. Korea 2006 $20,000

 

No travel to S. Korea required. She was 7 mos. old at arrival. She was in a baby house (a facility staffed by a doctor and nurses) from day 2 to day 10. She was with a foster family from day 10 until the day she came home to us at 7 months old.

 

We had email contact through a translation service with the foster family who provided us with video and photos of her first 7 months. They chose not to continue contact (I assume it was too painful) about a month after she came home to us.

 

State Foster Parent certification is required (super easy in AZ) in addition to the extremely rigorous requirements by the S. Korean government both of which are handled by the American agency. She arrived 1 year (almost to the day) after we inquired about international adoption. After 9-11 months after placement (requiring follow ups with social workers and a pediatrician) the S. Korean government will finalize the adoption.

 

We used Dillon Southwest in Scottsdale, AZ.

[RebeccaS]

7/2009-adopted our ds at age 3. He was adopted from foster care. Cost to us-$0. The state covered all fees associated with the adoption. Because he is considered special needs (he was twice disrupted from adoptive homes), we get a small monthly stipend as well as Medicaid until he is 18.

[MamaSheep]

Usually the monetary cost of adoption is pretty low if you adopt children from foster care, especially those considered "special needs", which includes older children whether or not they have other identified special needs. However there will be some other costs involved you might like to be aware of. For example, in order to be licensed to receive foster children we needed to install a lot of locks at our house (all medications, cleaning supplies, paints, etc. had to be locked up with a lock that required a key to get in) and have beds, dressers, etc. on hand before being considered for a placement. In addition, we had to have a vehicle that had enough seatbelts to accommodate our family, plus the maximum number of children we wanted to be licensed for, so we needed to buy a minivan. Now, most of that is expense you'd run into anyway if you added children to your family. Also, be aware that there is usually some kind of square footage requirement for bedrooms there may be other safety issues you'd need to address. Some of these (like the keyed locks) are a bit more than I'd usually do for a new child entering my home, but because of these kids' pasts and unknown behavioral and emotional issues, they like to err on the side of caution. And I think that's wise, there are just some things you might not think of, like window well covers, porch railings if the porch is more than X inches off the ground, fire extinguishers in certain places around the home, first aid kits in each vehicle, things like that. It will vary from state to state.

 

There can also be a pretty high cost in time. In our state we were required a certain number of hours of training (I think 36?) before being licensed, and then had a yearly training quota after that in order to maintain our license (I think it was 12 hours a year for the primary caregiver and 4 for the other parent). In addition to that, there will be meetings, phone calls, and emails, whether you have a placement or not. If a child is placed, you will also get to deal with a heap of paperwork documenting all sorts of aspects of the child's life, visitation with birth parents, court dates, therapists, meetings with the school about the child's educational needs, doctor appointments, etc.

 

Then there's the emotional aspect. It can be quite a roller coaster ride as you learn about children that "might" be yours, only to have them placed with another family, send out inquiries about waiting children only to discover that they're not really available, or are dangerous to have around other children, etc., or that they picked a different family. You might even get to know and love some of the kids, only to lose them to another family, or have to return them to birth parents you don't quite trust to actually care for them. And there's a possibility of getting to know and love a child and then realize that they have bigger, scarier problems than you are actually equipped to handle and having to make decisions about whether you can really keep them. It can be quite emotionally draining.

 

We are currently taking a break from the system after a journey of 3 years and an investment of several thousand dollars getting our home and vehicles up to snuff. We have not yet been able to adopt a child. We have left the door open to try again in a couple of years, but we really needed a break from the drama.

 

In our case, I think the fact that we already have two biological "special needs" kids in our home works against us being chosen, so your experience may be better than ours has been. I have several friends and acquaintances who have adopted foster children in much less time and with less financial investment than we've put in so far.

 

I don't want to discourage you, just give you a heads-up about some of the "other" costs of adopting through foster care beyond finances and dealing with the normally expected "adoption issues" and other "baggage" these dear children bring to a family.

[Mom-2-7]

Philippines - 2003 - 1 child (22 months old). About 30K total including airfare, hotel and meals.

 

U.S. - 2005 - 3 children (2.5, 16 months & 11 days at time of placement). $0 Adopted out of foster care.

 

U.S. - 2010 (Finalization is later this month) - 3 children (6, 4 and 4 months at time of placement) $0 Adopted out of foster care.

[Tap]

Foster adoption is less than $500 in our state. The child gets medicaid insurance until 18 if the parents want it and a monthly stipend of about $400. The parents can refuse the $$ but there is only one chance to get it so if they refuse, they can't go back later and ask for it if their financial situation or the child's needs, change in the future.

 

Many families that we know just bank the money for the child in the future with plans to put it towards college or a wedding someday.

[Heather in Neverland]

S.Korea- 2004- $23,000 (baby boy, 7 months old)

 

Malaysia- 2010- $9000 (baby girl, 2 weeks old)

[journeytolily]

We adopted from Guatemala in 2002 - approx $30,000 (this included 2 one-week trips for 2 people)

 

We adopted from S Korea in 2003 - approx $15,000 (included DH and I traveling to Seoul and spending 1 week)

 

Then, in 2008, we adopted from Detroit - approx $13,000 (this includes the cost for me to stay in MI for almost 3 weeks, waiting on termination hearing and ICPC)

 

We have lived frugally in order to afford to adopt, but our children are worth every monetary sacrifice! In fact, we are hoping and praying that we will be able to adopt one more time!

 

Oh, we were able to get the adoption tax credit for all the kids - since we don't make tons of money, we don't pay much in taxes - it carries over for 5 years, so we haven't actually paid in any taxes since 2003!

[zimom]

China 1998: $14,500 including everything, travel for my husband and I for two weeks and bringing our daughter home (10 months old, purchased a seat for her).

China 2005: ~$23,000 much higher as we traveled as a family of four over, five home, two hotel rooms throughout China, traveled for three weeks total (an extra week touring at our choice, etc.), and rushed some paperwork. Daughter was 18 months at adoption. Some cost was reimbursed through state special needs credit and federal income tax credit.

 

Many families qualify for a federal income tax CREDIT of over $12,000.

[MamaSheep]

I think I have heard that the tax credit will change significantly if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire. I haven't looked it up, though, so this may be hearsay.

[sixglides]

We brought home 2 children from Ethiopia this May. We had previously waited for a year in a domestic program, waiting for a birthmom to choose our family. We had, at the time, 4 children in our home. The social workers warned us in domestic programs, birthmoms tend to choose families with 0-1 children.

 

When we switched to International adoption, there are many, many agenices out there, each with different fee schedules. Travel costs vary greatly by season. We ended up traveling during peak travel times & our tickets cost significantly more than if we were traveling now.

 

Waiting children often have reduced fees. 'Rainbowkids.org' is a great adoption website, with LOTS of information. Older children, or special needs also often have grants. There are many organizations that have grants & 0% interest loans to help with costs.

 

If I'd have seen the total cost when we started, I might have said, no way & ruled it out. But, by working on it over time...much more doable.

[JessReplanted]

around $2000 for a private, local adoption

 

Adopting locally is the least expensive way to adopt.

[haysmommy]

2007-Thailand-$18,000-dh and I traveled and stayed for 10 days in Bangkok. Logan was 2 years and 3 months old.